Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2016, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 36-45.doi: 10.11978/2016020CSTR: 32234.14.2016020

• Marine Geophysics • Previous Articles     Next Articles

“Low frequency shadow” detection and analysis of the carbonate reservoir in Pearl River Mouth Basin

HUANG Yucheng1, WANG Dawei2, WU Shiguo2, ZENG Yi3, WANG Chun1   

  1. 1. Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration &Development, Beijing 100083, China;
    2. Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China;
    3. Shenzhen Branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd., Guangzhou 510240, China
  • Received:2016-02-26 Revised:2016-06-16 Online:2016-11-30 Published:2016-12-15
  • Contact: WANG Dawei. E-mail: wangdawei@idsse.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China (41576049); South China Sea Major Project (91228208); Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering Frontier Project of Knowledge Innovation in Engineering (IDSSE-201403)

Abstract: Carbonate platforms were widely distributed throughout the Dongsha uplift in Cenozoic. The autochthonous reefs grew above the platform have turned into excellent reservoirs due to holes and cracks developed inside and the blocking of overlying mudstone. In this paper, we analyze the time-frequency characteristics of Liuhua carbonate reservoir with high porosity using spectral decomposition, combining log data. The seismic waves encountered significant attenuation passing through the top of the reservoir, where the porosity was good, as the seismic centroid frequency on the time-frequency spectrum dropped rapidly there. However, the expected Low Frequency Shadows below the reservoir are missing except for some energy speckles shown on low frequency profiles. It is inferred that the relatively thin bed of the reservoir, the high interval velocity and the existence of the dense fluid (oil and water) inside the reservoir account for this phenomenon. The first two of the factors mentioned above give rise to inadequate attenuation of seismic waves and energy absorption. And the last one does not bring about a distinct impedance reflector as gas does. Besides, thin bed tuning effect leads to strong reflections of corresponding subsurface structures on the common-frequency section as it is at the tuning frequency, and this peak frequency could be applied to the estimate the reservoir thickness.

Key words: Northern South China Sea, Liuhua carbonate reservoir, S transform, low frequency shadow detection